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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25008397">Let's Go Beat Tyrian</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotwithacatpen/pseuds/idiotwithacatpen'>idiotwithacatpen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>...mostly, Gen, I have not decided yet, I published this at the end of pride month for a reason, I'm sorry for anyone who subscribed to me and got this email, Minor Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A MEME, Then, lgbt stands for lets go beat tyrian, no regrets, now it has multiple chapters planned, tags are weird, teletubbies may make an appearance, unless I know you, we all go and beat the shit out of tyrian, who do you think I am, wisteria is over her gay panic, …obviously</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:21:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,481</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25008397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotwithacatpen/pseuds/idiotwithacatpen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The epic tale of how Team KCWJ finds out Tyrian's still alive (stabbing is less permanent these days) and goes to hunt them down. Featuring Wisteria Heather back to narrating chaotic tales, the Ultimate Scythe™, and chaotic chaos.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Satan Does Not Accept Scorpions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/TesseractTown/gifts">TesseractTown</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiherah/gifts">Chiherah</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning starts off fine, if <em>fine</em> has suddenly become a synonym for <em>absolute chaos at ass o’clock</em>. Still, I’m used to it, so when the first explosion rocks the house, I am in no way surprised.</p><p>When I check the time, I can’t help but groan. It is indeed ass o’clock, otherwise known as about 5:30 in the morning. I went to sleep fifteen minutes ago. For <em>fuck’s</em> sake, Kyra. This was supposed to be a <em>relaxing</em> vacation.</p><p>Or at least I’m assuming it’s Kyra. Who knows for sure? One of these days, Caiden or Jackdaw might surprise me. I doubt it, though. There’s only one person who would willingly be awake enough to try to make breakfast this early, but evidently not awake enough to recognize the silverware they’re putting in the microwave.</p><p>I hear a loud giggle from downstairs, and despite the time and circumstances, it’s bright as ever. Brighter than the sun that is only <em>halfway</em> over the horizon, brighter than the explosion I heard not a minute ago. “Sorry,” Kyra screams from downstairs, their voice barely rising over the sound of the fire alarm’s screeches. “Uh... a little help here?”</p><p>Reaching for my Scroll, I only make it about three inches towards the nightstand before  my mattress flips completely over, landing on top of my head along with my purple weighted blanket.</p><p>“What the fuck, Jackie,” I whine into the darkness, struggling to push my blanket and mattress off of me. I can feel the static electricity making my hair stand on end. It’s messy enough as it is. I really don’t need this extra obstacle, not if that’s smoke I smell.</p><p>“Kitchen’s on fire,” Jackdaw says brusquely, and I hear her footsteps as she heads for the door. I know what she’s going to say because she only uses doors when she wants to be dramatic. “And stop calling me Jackie.”</p><p>As Jackdaw disappears into the hall, I finally throw my mattress off of me. It lands crooked on my bed, but at least I won’t have to pick it up later. “I’m still calling you Jackie,” I mutter. My shadow twists threateningly on the wall, but at this point, it doesn’t even faze me. Jackdaw’s never done worse than smack me with it.</p><p>I start reaching for my Scroll, hoping that Blake decides to email me her book recommendations today, before I remember Jackdaw’s words. Oh yeah. Kitchen’s on fire.</p><p>Stuffing my Scroll into the pocket of my fluffy cat pants, I cross the room and pick up Hyacinth. Water Dust is loaded into it already. Exploding microwaves are too common an occurrence for me to <em>not</em> prepare in advance.</p><p>The smoke smell doubles by the time I get to the top of the stairs, and I can actually see it when I make it to the bottom. I can’t see the way into the kitchen, assuming there’s still a kitchen to begin with. That explosion was weirdly loud, and definitely not the type of sound you’d normally hear from a microwave.</p><p>There are footsteps somewhere amidst the fire and smoke, but I can’t find any of my teammates. “Where are you,” I say, barely able to hear myself. I don’t need to, though, since I’ve heard my own voice say that plenty of times before.</p><p>It only takes another second for me to replay my voice in the mind of my closest teammate. The response comes from somewhere to my left. “Bathroom!” </p><p>This could be a waste of Dust, but I don’t give a shit as I yank two white crystals out of my belt and replace the Water Dust already in Hyacinth. I twirl the staff in front of me, creating a gust of wind that blows most of the smoke out of the (mercifully) open windows. The room clears enough for me to see Caiden stumbling out of the bathroom, holding a bucket of water that tilts dangerously as they head into the kitchen.</p><p>Returning the Water Dust to my sword, I run into the kitchen. It’s nearly full of smoke (and fires that may or may not be bigger than they were before I used the Wind Dust,) so I almost get drenched by the water that Caiden pours on one of the smaller flames. I flick my tail to get rid of the few droplets that did hit me, find the biggest blaze, and spin my swords as fast as I can. I would make a great baton twirler. Or a ribbon twirler, depending on how I’m using my swords.</p><p>“Seriously?” Caiden groans. When they pass by me, I can see that they’re dripping wet. Whoops. </p><p>My apology is lost in the sound of Kyra entering the room with a stretched-out garden hose. “WATERBEND,” they scream, dousing the rest of the fires (and all of us) with water. A few embers remain that we’re quick to snuff out.</p><p>Jackdaw appears in the shadows on the counter, the only one of us that’s not dripping wet. “What did you do?”</p><p>“Give me a second,” Kyra coughs, trying to fan the remaining smoke away with their hands. It works about as well as I expect.</p><p>Shaking their head, Caiden drags Kyra out of the kitchen. I follow them as Jackdaw disappears in the shadows again.</p><p>Once we all get out of the house and let the fire department leave, Jackdaw turns to Kyra and repeats, “What. Did. You. Do?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Kyra replies. “Microwaves aren’t supposed to blow up like that.”</p><p>“They never blow up like that unless someone left Fire Dust lying around,” Caiden says, extending a gloved hand. We all lean over to see the sparkling remains of what might be Fire Dust or maybe crushed Cheetos.</p><p>I lean away from the Dust and ask, “All right, which idiot put Fire Dust in the kitchen?”</p><p>“Don’t look at me,” Kyra protests when we all look at them. “I wouldn’t put Dust in a place where we blow things up regularly.”</p><p>“You mean where <em>you</em> blow things up regularly,” Jackdaw grumbles.</p><p>Kyra waves her off. “Semantics. Besides, that just proves my point. I know myself the best, so why would I leave Fire Dust in the kitchen?”</p><p>Sighing, Caiden turns to me. “Wisteria? Did you drop one of your crystals?”</p><p>“They’re all here,” I reply, pointing to one of my belt pouches. “Jack-“</p><p>“It wasn’t me,” she interrupts. “Caiden?”</p><p>“Not me,” Caiden sighs. “Considering that this was all I could find of the Dust, we’re probably not going to figure out who it was at this point.”</p><p>“Oh well,” Kyra shrugs. “Then maybe it’s time to move on to the bigger problem of what we’re going to tell Winter.”</p><p>Crickets.</p><p>I blink once, twice, and say the first thing that comes to mind. “Fuck.”</p><p>“I’m going to have to agree with Wisteria,” Jackdaw says, then pauses. “I don’t think I’ve ever said that before.”</p><p>“You haven’t. I would have marked it in my calendar if you had,” I say, opening my Scroll to do just that.</p><p>Kyra snatches it from my hands and shuts it. “Not right now, Wisteria. You can add it to your list of historic moments <em>after</em> we figure out how to keep Winter from-“</p><p>“Keep me from what?”</p><p>God <em>fucking</em> dammit.</p><p>The looks on my teammates’ faces tell me that they’re all thinking the same thing as me. Slowly, we all turn around to find General Winter Schnee herself staring us down.</p><p>“Nope, not today,” Kyra mutters, spinning so quickly that Caiden has to put a hand out to keep their cape from hitting them. “It’s too early for this shit.”</p><p>Kyra’s own shadow morphs itself into a hand that wraps around their ankle, effectively pinning them to where they stand. They glare half-heartedly at Jackdaw. “If I had Crystal Thorn right now...”</p><p>“Terrifying,” Jackdaw snorts. “Either way, you started this. You’re not leaving now.”</p><p>“I’m not the one who left Fire Dust in the kitchen!”</p><p>“Yeah, the Fire Dust that wouldn’t have exploded if there was no silverware in the microwave.”</p><p>“I was <em>tired</em>, okay? I do stupid shit when I’m tired!”</p><p>Winter clears her throat before Jackdaw can say anything back. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thanks, Winter. “Does anyone want to tell me why the home I allowed you to live in under the condition that you <em>did not break anything</em> is smoking?”</p><p>“The microwave blew up while we were all eating breakfast,” Kyra lies without even a second of hesitation. “There was a fire, but we put it out pretty fast.”</p><p>“You were all eating breakfast,” Winter repeats slowly. “At five thirty in the morning.”</p><p>Kyra opens their mouth, but Caiden stops them. “I mean, you probably woke up much earlier, considering your uniform and how quickly you got here. So why is it so hard to believe that we were up early too?”</p><p>“Because Wisteria sent me this at five along with a message that explicitly said she was going to bed,” Winter replies, holding up her Scroll so we can all see my latest creation. I try and fail to stifle my laugh while the others groan. “She went offline after that, and since she’s never offline unless she’s asleep or temporarily dead, I know she was sleeping.</p><p>“What even...” Caiden sighs, shaking their head. “Actually, do I even want to know?”</p><p>Caiden, if you’re reading this, I just want you to know that your lack of appreciation for hard work is <em>staggering.</em> It took me at least ten minutes to get Jacques Schnee’s face to align perfectly with the Lorax’s!</p><p>“Every day, I find new reasons to hate you,” Jackdaw says.</p><p>Winter clears her throat again to get our attention, her already irritated expression turning into annoyance. “What actually happened?”</p><p>“I put metal in the microwave,” Kyra admits, hanging their head. “And then the microwave set off some Fire Dust and the kitchen exploded.”</p><p>“Why am I not surprised,” Winter mutters. She takes a deep breath, folds her hands behind her back, and says, “You’re going to have to stay at Atlas Academy for the rest of your visit.”</p><p>Once again, when I look around at my teammates, I can see they’re thinking the same thing.</p><p>
  <em>Not again.</em>
</p><p>-</p><p>A few hours later, once we’re all out of our ruined clothes, we all collapse in our brand new dorm room. Kyra pulls Crystal Thorn up with them to the top bunk, staring down at us with a surprising resemblance to a gargoyle. Caiden sits on their suitcase, leans against the bunk under Kyra, and lets out a groan so loud that I almost jump. Jackdaw sulks in the shadows of the other bed, absentmindedly drumming her feet on the cracked wall.</p><p>As for me, I’m about to faceplant on the floor when I recognize the crack on the wall. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I’ve spent too many nights tracing that same pattern on the wall to not remember it.</p><p>“What is it, Wisteria?” Kyra asks, evidently noticing my expression.</p><p>“This was my team’s room,” I respond after a brief pause. “...Ew.”</p><p>“Remember having a team?” Kyra snorts. “Besides this one, I mean.”</p><p>“No,” says Jackdaw.</p><p>“Not really,” says Caiden.</p><p>“I kind of do,” says Kyra.</p><p>I sigh. “Unfortunately.”</p><p>Kyra frowns. “Unfortunately?”</p><p>“We were never exactly friends. They were, well... I guarantee you wouldn’t like them either.”</p><p>“So they were bootlickers,” Caiden deadpans.</p><p>I snap my fingers— or at least I <em>would</em> snap my fingers if I knew how. No one seems to take much notice when my fingers brush past each other without a sound. “Spot on.”</p><p>“Your team was Team, uh...” Kyra trails off and waits for me to answer them.</p><p>“Team HCYN,” I finish. “Heather, Ciara, Yin, Nerine.”</p><p>Jackdaw sits up, almost hitting her head on the top bunk. “You were a team leader? <em>You?</em>”</p><p>“Don’t sound so surprised,” I grumble. “Besides, I think I was a <em>great</em> team leader!”</p><p>One thing I should probably mention: I’m a horrible liar. What kind of leader abandons her team to be gay, do crime, and save the world? </p><p>Kyra picks up on it immediately and shoots me a questioning look that I wave off. They shrug. “Not as good of a leader as me.”</p><p>I roll my eyes and point at them, using my Semblance to play their own voice in their head. “<em>Bullshit.</em>”</p><p>With a snort, Kyra leaps down from the bunk, landing lightly. “You look me in the eyes and tell me one example of why you’re a better leader than me,” they say with a smirk.</p><p>I return the smirk and lean closer. “Three words. The Nevermore Incident.”</p><p>Kyra hesitates. And hesitates some more. “Goddammit,” they say at last, sitting down next to Caiden. </p><p>I get about one second of victory before Kyra sits up again. “You wouldn’t be smart enough to notice a trap if it slapped you in the face,” they half-say, half-shout.</p><p>“LIES AND SLANDER,” I yell back, even if they’re not completely wrong.</p><p>“Not lies, just slander. You know what you did.”</p><p>“It is <em>not</em> slander if it’s not a lie,” I snap, pulling out my Scroll. “Hey Siri, what’s the definition of slander?”</p><p>“Ha ha,” my Scroll says.</p><p>“Hahaha <em>fuck you</em>,” I mutter. “Hey. Siri. What. Is. The. Definition. Of. Slander?”</p><p>“The action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation.”</p><p>I fling my hands in the air, almost losing my grip on my Scroll. “See?”</p><p>“That’s enough, you two,” Caiden says tiredly. “Let’s just... I don’t know, watch the news or something.”</p><p>“Boring,” Kyra and I say at once. I lean over to give them a high-five.</p><p>“I need a break after this morning,” Caiden insists, putting their Scroll on the table so we can all see the screen.</p><p>“-the mysterious murders throughout Mantle. Out of the fifteen attacked, there is only one survivor.” The screen changes from the reporter to an image of a girl laying in a hospital bed, most of her face obscured. “Footage from her Scroll suggests that her attacker was none other than Tyrian Callows, the-“</p><p>Kyra stands up, plants Crystal Thorn in the ground, and drop-kicks the Scroll off the table.</p><p>After a long pause, Caiden sighs, “Under normal circumstances, I would remind you how expensive that thing is, but I honestly have to agree with you there.” They stand up to pick up their Scroll.</p><p>Once Caiden picks up their Scroll, Kyra asks, “Does anyone want to come with me?”</p><p>Jackdaw gives them a puzzled look. “Come with you and do.. what?”</p><p>“Ask my favorite general for answers, of course!” Kyra replies with so much enthusiasm we all know that they’re secretly ready to stab a wee bitch.</p><p>We all stand up immediately and follow them out the door. I grab Hyacinth as an afterthought, but I’m pretty sure I won’t have to use it. Especially not when Kyra’s still holding Crystal Thorn.</p><p>Once we all make it into the hall, we get a few questioning glances from the few students around us. Kyra ignores them as they fold Crystal Thorn up and ask, “All right, who knows where the fuck Winter’s office is?”</p><p>-</p><p>Listen.</p><p>I’d asked Kyra once if Satan accepted scorpions as payment for my soul. They said no. Tarantulas, they could handle, but scorpions? They definitely wouldn’t be accepting those. And who can really blame them? There are too many legs on those things, plus the bonus stinger on its end. They’re <em>such</em> fascinating creatures, especially when you find one in your sleeping bag after a long day of combat where the only thing around you for miles is sand.</p><p>Okay, enough of that. My point is, Tyrian Callows may not have the extra legs or the pinchers, and I would definitely notice him in my sleeping bag, but he’s still a major pain in the ass. (Honestly? I don’t know how literally you should take that, but I doubt a metal tail is anything close to comfortable. You didn’t hear it from me.)</p><p>The best thing about Tyrian by far is that he’s dead. Kyra, Qrow and Clover made sure of that a year ago. So why in <em>hell</em> is he in this video, very much <em>not</em> dead and cackling as usual?</p><p>Winter turns the video off. “Well?”</p><p>“It’s him,” Kyra snarls, reaching for their scythe. As usual, Caiden has to put a hand on their shoulder to calm them down, or maybe just to hold them back. </p><p>“That’s all I need to hear,” Winter sighs. “Tyrian Callows is, against all odds, alive.”</p><p>Her words are enough for us to fully process the situation, prompting a mixture of responses from the entire team. Gods. I did not want to deal with this on my vacation.</p><p>Jackdaw groans, mashing her face into a pillow from her seat. “Not this shit again. <em>Please</em> not again.”</p><p>Caiden doesn’t say anything, but I can tell what they’re thinking from their facial expression. <em>Are you fucking serious?</em></p><p>“For the love of fuck, Satan does not accept scorpions,” Kyra grumbles. (See what I mean about the scorpions?) </p><p>I shoot them a glance. “Seems a little weird to refer to yourself in third person, but okay.”</p><p>Winter gives us her best Puzzled and Extremely Exasperated Look™. We barely take notice, seeing as we get that look a lot. “That brings us to the issue of who’s going to hunt-”</p><p>Kyra’s hand is in the air before she can finish. “I’ll do it.”</p><p>“Of course you will,” Caiden mutters right before they say, “I’m coming.”</p><p>“That’s what she saAAAHHHHH!” A shadow smacks me in the face, and I almost drop Hyacinth. “Kyra, help. I’m being bullied.”</p><p>“Jackdaw, try to resist the urge to kill Wisteria. We’re gonna need her if we want to track this fucker down,” Kyra says as they turn to us, holding Crystal Thorn as if they’re going to run into battle at any second.</p><p>I, for one, absolutely can’t wait until they beat Tyrian’s ass and drag him to prison. Wait. The way Kyra says it, it sounds like I’m going to come with them.</p><p>Rest in pieces, relaxing vacation. You will be missed.</p><p>(Then again, what could be more, well, not relaxing, but certainly therapeutic, than beating the shit out of Tyrian? Nothing. You tell me to my face that there’s something better. That’s right. You can’t. Because I’m fucking <em>right.</em>)</p><p>Besides, they do kind of need me. After all-</p><p>“I mean, she <em>is</em>…” Caiden begins.</p><p>“I mean, I <em>am</em>…” I say at the same time.</p><p>“The most sneaky beaky out of all of us,” we say together. Are we lying? Maybe. Jackdaw’s Semblance <em>is</em> very good for being sneaky beaky. But can <em>she</em> do the sneaky beaky walk? I doubt it.</p><p>Jackdaw snorts. Kyra lets out a laugh better described as a squawk, relying on Crystal Thorn to keep them upright as they wheeze.</p><p>“Same braincell,” I laugh, giving Caiden my best finger guns. Unfortunately, I have a habit of snapping right before, and since I can’t snap, it always just looks kind of sad. To me anyway.</p><p>Winter just sighs. She does that a lot when we’re around.</p><p>“Do we get an airship?” Kyra asks, turning back to Winter.</p><p>“Can I even trust you with an airship?”</p><p>“Well, I’m sure we could just <em>walk</em> down to Mantle. That would work great!”</p><p>Winter stares at her for three long seconds before she pulls out her Scroll, taps a few buttons and holds it up for Face ID. Our Scrolls beep at the same time. As we pull them out, Winter explains, “I usually wouldn’t do this, but your team might be the best option for this mission.”</p><p>“Atlesian military licenses? Really?” Kyra asks, giving their Scroll a disapproving look.</p><p>“They’ll get you anywhere you need to go,” Winter shrugs. “Please try not to break too many buildings.”</p><p>“How many is too many?” Kyra whispers.</p><p>Whether Winter doesn’t hear them or just chooses to ignore their words, I’ll never know. What I do know is that she tells us, “Try to bring him in alive, will you?”</p><p>To my surprise, Kyra nods with what looks like the tiniest bit of respect. “We’ll try.”</p><p>It’s not until we leave the office to return to our room that Jackdaw asks, “Are we actually going to try, or…?”</p><p>Kyra smirks. “It might be satisfying to kill him outright, but I’m sure there are other people who have a score to settle with him. Even if they did <em>kind of</em> settle it last time we saw Tyrian.”</p><p>“Do you want to invite them along?” Caiden asks.</p><p>“We’ll figure that out later. I don’t know about you all, but I want to start hunting him now, so we’d better change into something that’s <em>not</em> Atlas Academy pajamas.”</p><p>Once we get back to the dorm room, we change into our usual Atlas outfits. I change into what Caiden calls the Kyra cosplay. Thanks, Caiden. None of us have actual jackets, and some of us don’t even have <em>sleeves</em>. (Of course, Clover Ebi is the biggest mystery. He doesn’t even have a cape to keep him warm. What the fuck.)</p><p>Kyra props up their Scroll so we can all fit into the camera frame and calls Clover. It only takes a few rings before someone picks up.</p><p>“What is it?” Qrow asks with only a hint of irritation. </p><p>“Tyrian,” Kyra replies. </p><p>“...What about him?”</p><p>“He’s alive and murdering people in Mantle,” Kyra says with a little too much enthusiasm. “Winter sent us to hunt him down, but we wouldn’t say no to your help if you want to come…”</p><p>The Scroll gets yanked away from Qrow to show Clover, who’s sitting on the couch. “Tyrian’s <em>alive?</em> How is that even possible?”</p><p>“Apparently, getting stabbed isn’t as permanent as it’s supposed to be anymore,” I mutter. </p><p>Qrow sits down next to Clover so we can see both of them at once. “And you want us to help you?”</p><p>“Yep,” Kyra replies.</p><p>“I’ll go,” Clover says immediately. He stands up and rushes out of frame, probably to get his weapon. </p><p>After a few seconds of silence from Qrow where we can hear drawers opening in the background, Clover shouts, “Honey, where’s Kingfisher?”</p><p>“What?” Qrow responds.</p><p>“Where. Is. Kingfisher?”</p><p>“I, uh, put it away.”</p><p>Kyra turns to us and whispers, “Bullshit.”</p><p>“Where?”</p><p>“Why do you need to know?”</p><p>“I need it!”</p><p>We start shooting each other puzzled glances. What’s even going on at this point? Finally, Kyra shrugs and we look back to Qrow, who’s just finishing shouting something else.</p><p>“The public is in danger!” Clover says, the sound of him opening drawers getting louder.</p><p>“My <em>evening</em> is in danger!”</p><p>“You tell me where Kingfisher is, Qrow! We are talking about the greater good!”</p><p>“Greater good?” Qrow repeats. “I am your <em>husband!</em> I’m the greatest <em>good</em> you’re ever gonna get!”</p><p>Kyra coughs as loudly as they can, drawing out for maybe just a little too long for it to be actually believable. “So is that a no?” They ask once Clover’s back in the frame.</p><p>Clover shoots Qrow a dirty look, but there’s no actual venom in it. “Well, only one person seems to know where Kingfisher is, and it’s not me, so…”</p><p>“And we’re in Vale right now,” Qrow adds. “That might also be an issue.”</p><p>“Okay,” Kyra sighs. They stand up straighter, grinning. “That means we get him all to ourselves, though!”</p><p>“Let us know when you catch him,” Clover says.</p><p>“Sure,” Kyra replies, and hangs up. They turn to us. “It’s us four against Tyrian, then. What are the odds that we win?”</p><p>“We have the sneakiest beakiest cat Faunus in all of Remnant, someone who can get past any obstacle with barely a thought, a big brain walking flash drive that’s also a gun, and… well, a Kyra. I think we have a pretty good chance,” I snort.</p><p>“I have some objections to the walking flash drive,” Caiden mutters. “But the rest of that was accurate.”</p><p>Kyra claps their hands, picks up Crystal Thorn, and waits for us to grab our own weapons. “Then I think we’re all set. In the wise words of Captain Clover Ebi–”</p><p>“Good luck?”</p><p>“Please don’t die because I’m secretly in love with you and everyone can tell despite me only saying this with my eyes?”</p><p>“Don’t do anything stupid until I get back?”</p><p>“No, no, and no,” Kyra says. “Good guesses, though.” They face us fully, grip tightening on Crystal Thorn. </p><p>“Let’s go get this son of a bitch.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm sorry I created this. Actually I'm not. But that's none of my business.</p><p>also for the uninitiated that had the misfortune of clicking on this—<br/>Kyra Baki belongs to TesseractTown (narwhalish on tumblr)<br/>Caiden Glas belongs to Chiherah (hi chi ily)<br/>Wisteria Heather belongs to me ;D<br/>Jackdaw (i pretend her last name is Teletubby but she doesn't have one) belongs to Shana340 on tumblr<br/>&gt;:3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Tarantulas Won't Be Accepted After This</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Team KCWJ fucks shit up and also gets their shit fucked up</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The fun thing about serial killers is that they tend to be pretty smart, just like this scorpion-who-would-not-fit-in-my-sleeping-bag. They’re hard to find despite the multiple bodies, and they’re not going to jump into situations where four armed Huntsmen are hanging around. Which is where traps come in.</p><p>Look, I might not be the most perceptive when it comes to traps, but I sure as hell know how to set them. Unfortunately, as soon as I lay out my plan for my trap– stick me in an alleyway, wait around, rinse, repeat until we find him and then kick his ass– Kyra informs me that he’s already been trapped similarly before.</p><p>Really, Kyra? Two years and you didn’t tell me about the LGBT squad that was here before us? They might have even been slightly more iconic than us. If “chief lesbirb and two men too busy being old, gay and tired to do anything but flirt” is iconic. </p><p>Plan B, otherwise known as Trap Ideas Part Two Electric Boogaloo, has to do with Kyra’s very specific skill set: being hot, spying on people, kicking ass, and blowing up microwaves. </p><p>(Maybe the first one is just my opinion. But it doesn’t matter, because they’re only using half of them anyway.)</p><p>Just like Kyra’s Semblance tells us, Tyrian is in a crowded bar at the edge of Mantle, his face mostly obscured by the same brown hood we were told he’d be wearing. We lean casually against one of those horrible leaning bench things, taking turns watching Tyrian. (Why the <em>fuck</em> do these benches even exist?)</p><p>Kyra bumps into me for the eighth time in thirty seconds, turns, and immediately stumbles into Caiden. How long this blindness is going to last, we don’t know, but it’s not very helpful right now. Then again, when is it ever?</p><p>Jackdaw steps out of the shadows just a little <em>too</em> dramatically, wearing a uniform that we (surprisingly) didn’t actually steal. “Does anyone want to explain why <em>I</em> have to be the waitress?” Jackdaw grumbles, crossing her arms.</p><p>“Even if they weren’t blind right now, Tyrian would recognize Kyra for sure, he <em>might</em> recognize me, and that uniform is too big for Wisteria,” Caiden explains. “Your Semblance also means an easy escape.”</p><p>“Fine,” Jackdaw sighs, stepping into the bar without another word. We watch her slip next to another member of the staff through the window, mostly blending into the crowd. Jackdaw is a surprisingly good actress. She finds Tyrian in a corner table (what is it with shady people and corner tables) and starts walking close to him as casually as she can.</p><p>If this all goes wrong (knowing us, it will) we’ll have to confront Tyrian in the bar. Kind of a horrible idea when there are civilians around. Which is why Jackdaw’s staying so close– she’s patrolling. Just in case he feels the irresistible urge to stab someone.</p><p>Kyra turns back to us– or at least they try to turn back to us. As Caiden and I stand behind them, they say to a streetlamp, “All right, team. Sneaky Beaky mode on!”</p><p>Caiden coughs and taps their shoulder. Kyra spins around in surprise, but they just shrug and pull their cape hood over their head. Caiden reluctantly takes out the cloak we made for them out of a trash bag.</p><p>“I want you to know I hate you all,” they mutter as they pull the hood on. </p><p>“You love us really,” Kyra snorts. “Wisteria, do your brain fuzz thing now. We’ll be back soon.”</p><p>“Don’t take too long,” I say, amplifying the sound of the bar in Tyrian’s head. I’m not quite sure if it’s working from this distance, but it can’t hurt to try.</p><p>Kyra shrugs. “That’s what you get for not keeping your fake ID.”</p><p>“Why would I keep it after I left Atlas?”</p><p>“To get into places like this!” Kyra’s voice is so loud that a few people sitting by the window glance outside. Caiden shoots them a warning look that they still can’t see. Quietly, they say, “Anyway, we’ll be right by the window. You can amplify our conversation if you want.”</p><p>Nodding, I watch as they enter the bar and take a seat right by the window. The second Caiden opens their mouth, I use my Semblance to listen to their conversation. It’s different from how I filled Tyrian’s thoughts with double background noise– now I have to pull the noise instead of pushing it.</p><p>“Don’t stare too obviously,” Caiden mutters.</p><p>“I can’t stare at anything right now,” Kyra replies right before they blink. “...Never mind.”</p><p>“Just act normal and we’ll be fine.”</p><p>“I mean, there <em>is</em> a microwave in the kitchen…”</p><p>Caiden shakes their head. “Just… what’s an interesting fact you know? Normal conversation, please. Something two non-Huntsmen would say.”</p><p>I choose to butt into the conversation then. It’s hard to distract Tyrian while maintaining a conversation with Kyra and Caiden at the same time, but I can make it work. <em>It’s a scientific fact that adding ‘cheek’ to anything ending in -ass will make it twice as funny.</em></p><p>“What the fuck, Wisteria,” Caiden groans, dropping their head into their arms so quickly that their hood almost falls off their head. “That is absolutely <em>not</em> what I meant.”</p><p>“I could prove that wrong, but okay,” Kyra says. “There’s at least three sentences I can think of that don’t fit that rule.”</p><p>
  <em>That doesn’t make them less funny, though.</em>
</p><p>“Change the topic,” Caiden half-begs.</p><p>“Yeah, but…” Kyra pauses to think something over, as if contemplating how much they value their life. “Caiden Glassc-”</p><p>“NOPE,” Caiden squawks, sitting up and covering Kyra’s mouth faster than I can blink. </p><p><em>I am going to remember that forever</em>, I tell them gleefully.</p><p>We don’t notice Jackdaw walking by the table until she murmurs, “He’s leaving.”</p><p>Kyra’s on their feet at once, and Caiden follows them more cautiously. They separate and move through the crowd as discreetly as they can. For once, I’m glad Tyrian chose such a shady bar to hang out at. No one questions the capes when <em>everyone’s</em> wearing capes, after all.</p><p>Tyrian slips out the door, and Kyra follows him, reaching for the plastic bush where we hid Crystal Thorn. Note to self: camo print fabric does nothing to hide large scythes.</p><p>All of us follow without a word, hardly daring to breath. I can’t help a smirk from crossing my face– is it really this easy? He doesn’t turn, doesn’t seem to notice Kyra.</p><p>Another note to self: Kyra can be very sneaky beaky when they want to be.</p><p>...Which, evidently, is not often.</p><p>I’m certain our luck has run out when Tyrian pauses and glances over his shoulder. To my surprise, he doesn’t notice Kyra standing twenty feet away from him as he shrugs and continues walking.</p><p>Jackdaw slips out of the darkness next to me, gives me a nod, and disappears again. I watch as the shadows shift to conceal Kyra– it’s not a great disguise, but it seems to be fooling Tyrian.</p><p>Finally, Tyrian reaches a long alleyway. Jackdaw appears on the roof, and I climb up as silently as I can after her. At least it’s not deadly quiet– it never is in Mantle. He can’t hear the near-silent <em>shink</em> of Hyacinth sinking slightly into the roof from where he’s standing.</p><p>As I pull myself up, Kyra starts walking faster, Caiden surely nearby. We all pick up the pace as I consider telling Kyra that we <em>did</em> end up doing an alleyway ambush after all. In the end, I decide against it. It’s not worth the distraction.</p><p>In a swift movement– maybe too swift, judging by the sharp rush of air– Crystal Thorn is unfolded and brought swinging down on Tyrian’s back, all of its spikes ready to destroy half of his Aura in one blow.</p><p>Tyrian just steps to the side, the blade missing him by an inch.</p><p>“Well, fuck,” Kyra says, not bothering to be quiet as he takes one look at them and takes off.</p><p>We all run after him, no longer caring about muffling our footsteps. Tyrian makes it around a corner, and by the time I leap over the rooftops, he’s gone. Kyra, holding Crystal Thorn at the ready, rushes after him into an open doorway.</p><p>Caiden follows her, gesturing for us to go the other way as they disappear into the building. I look at Jackdaw, and together we start sprinting for what we hope is the building’s entrance.</p><p>Before we get there, the sounds of combat break out in the building. A window on the third floor shatters, and gunshots ring in the air. Jackdaw disappears, leaving me to try to find an actual entrance.</p><p>By the time I get there, everyone’s gone, and while I can hear footsteps, I can’t hear anything else. I look around, taking in the dark bookshelves. Great. If Tyrian managed to throw them off, he could be hiding behind any one of these.</p><p>Against my better judgment, I call out, “Hello?”</p><p>No response.</p><p>If what I just did is against my better judgment, this is absolutely suicidal. “Jacki-”</p><p>Jackdaw steps out of the shadows and extends a hand, gesturing impatiently when I don’t take it right away. “Shut up and come with me. We’re going to need your night vision to find him.”</p><p>I reach out to take her hand– and that’s when the spiders attack.</p><p>For the love of <em>fuck</em>, just because Satan accepts tarantulas doesn’t mean they <em>like</em> them.</p><p>-</p><p>This is the part where I have to go off Caiden and Kyra’s accounts, which aren’t exactly reliable. (Sorry, guys, but you know it’s true.)</p><p>Kyra doesn’t hesitate as they run into the building after Tyrian, not even stopping to consider what might be in there. And they say <em>I’m</em> the one who can’t recognize traps.</p><p>… okay we did all go in after them. So maybe it’s just a team thing.</p><p>They can hear Caiden’s footsteps pounding after them, so it doesn’t matter when they don’t hear me and Jackdaw. If they could beat Tyrian with Summer using just their fists, they can handle him with their scythe.</p><p>It occurs to them about then that they can’t see anything in the darkness, but Tyrian sure as hell can. On instinct, Kyra raises their leg a little higher, finding stairs under their feet. “Up,” they shout to Caiden as they climb.</p><p>They make it into a room that’s evidently pretty cramped judging by the feeling of Crystal Thorn slamming into something. “<em>Shit,</em>” Kyra hisses as they transform their scythe into a sword and keep running.</p><p>Tyrian whirls with a cackle and lashes out, missing one hit, feinting on the next, and then rolling to the side with his stinger darting for Kyra’s leg. Kyra swings down in his general direction and starts firing wildly. Somewhere in the darkness, Caiden fires too, and someone’s bullet shatters a window.</p><p>Caiden and Kyra pause for a second, unsure of where Tyrian is. They don’t get much more than a second of silence before Tyrian starts firing from higher up. Kyra spins their sword to deflect the bullets, but they take a few hits when Crystal Thorn gets jammed between a wall and a… bookshelf?</p><p>Kyra dislodges Crystal Thorn, knocking the bookshelf over with a loud crash. Tyrian leaps away and darts back out the doorway. Caiden runs after him, and Kyra uses the glowing parts of their outfit to find their way out.</p><p>Jackdaw appears next to them, already running, but she stops quickly and disappears again. Kyra waits for her to emerge from the shadows in front of Tyrian, but Jackdaw never returns.</p><p>They have bigger problems right in front of them, so Kyra focuses on splitting Crystal Thorn into chakrams and trying to locate Tyrian by the sounds of his footsteps. They’ve been blind plenty of times before, after all.</p><p>Almost running into a wall, Kyra turns at the last second and grins when they see the window up ahead. There’s not much light coming from it, but it’s enough.</p><p>Caiden must be thinking the same thing, because they throw Virus at the same time. Two of the three chakrams miss, but Kyra’s blade chakram hits its mark, sending Tyrian tumbling to the floor. Kyra catches their chakram, but it’s kind of hard to use it in any other way when they don’t have the handle.</p><p>Meanwhile, the entirety of Virus is still missing, so Caiden has no choice but to do their best to punch Tyrian in the face. He dodges, as expected, but what they don’t expect is for him to grab Caiden’s wrist and yank them forward.</p><p>Tyrian swipes a hand across Caiden’s stomach, their Aura vanishing in that spot, and brings his tail up to strike. Caiden tries to twist out of the way, but there’s only so much they can do with Tyrian still holding their wrist.</p><p>Kyra throws their chakram just in time, pinning Tyrian’s tail against the wooden floor. They glare at Tyrian with just a hint of triumph right before he shrugs and slashes with his weapon instead.</p><p>Both of them cry out as Tyrian releases Caiden so they can collapse on the ground, a hand coming up to cover their wound. Tyrian frees his tail from Crystal Thorn with an awful screech of metal against metal and jabs down again.</p><p>Kyra catches his tail, yanking it away from Caiden. Tyrian looks up at them in surprise, and they shrug. </p><p>He moves to slash again anyway, but this time, Kyra already knows to expect it. With no sign of effort, they lift Tyrian by the tail and swing him straight into a nearby wall. Tyrian falls to the ground and doesn’t get up, stunned.</p><p>“Bitch,” Kyra mutters.</p><p>Despite the circumstances, Caiden can’t hold back a laugh. Kyra, on the other hand, takes the time to find Crystal Thorn’s handle. It ends up being by a counter– wait, a counter?</p><p>“Oh,” Kyra grins. This, as it turns out, is a kitchen.</p><p>And that… that is a microwave.</p><p>Oh, yeah. It’s all coming together.</p><p>Winter only told them not to break <em>too</em> many things, after all. Besides, if no one’s come to demand what they’re doing in their house, then it’s probably fine. Kyra pulls out their Fire Dust as fast as they can, tossing a cartridge into the microwave as they yank it out of the wall.</p><p>Tyrian stands up, looking slightly dazed, and is greeted by a microwave hurtling for his face. He tries to leap back, but that’s when Kyra fires, their bullet aimed perfectly at the cartridge.</p><p>Kyra drops to the ground, doing their best to cover Caiden as the explosion shakes the building.</p><p>(Listen, I said that Kyra would only use half of their skill set, but…)</p><p>When the smoke clears, Tyrian is gone. Kyra spins to look behind them, finding Tyrian disappearing out the window. They stand up, ready to follow him, but decide against it. </p><p>Kyra kneels next to Caiden, reaching out to try to slow the blood staining their shirt, but stops when Caiden waves them off. </p><p>“I’m fine,” Caiden says as they sit up. “But I wouldn’t exactly say no to bandages if you brought them.”</p><p>“Wisteria has them,” Kyra sighs. They help Caiden stand before they freeze. “Speaking of Wisteria, where is she?”</p><p>Huh, I wonder.</p><p>-</p><p>If I’m being honest, <em>attack</em> might be a strong word. The spiders aren’t really lunging or anything, but they– actually, you know what?</p><p>One “Hey, Siri” later, I’m still not sure.</p><p>Anyway, it’s not like they all jump on us and try to eat us alive. It’s honestly kind of eerie how they just hang there, eyes a dull red that doesn’t glow like normal Grimm’s eyes.</p><p>Jackdaw waves her hand in front of my face. “What are you doing? Come on!”</p><p>I don’t respond, keeping my eyes on the largest spider, which starts creeping down the wall towards her. She growls and turns away, walking straight towards the spider. Why is she–</p><p>Oh, right. Human.</p><p>Shit.</p><p>“Jackdaw, no!”</p><p>It seems like she’s already gotten the memo, though, because she stops inches away from the spider. I’m about to be relieved when she drops to her knees. I inch closer to check if she’s okay, and oh shit, is she crying?</p><p>I’ve never seen Jackdaw cry before, but now, her eyes stare at nothing as tears slide down her cheeks. Actually, that’s a lie. I almost forgot the time she cried because her noodles were soggy. </p><p>Then Jackdaw starts to move. Not in a good way either– she doesn’t stand on her own, instead leaning backwards as an invisible force pulls her body along.</p><p>“Jack-”</p><p>I’m not used to darkness, considering my night vision, so when my teammate disappears in a sea of black, I pause. </p><p>
  <em>“Wisteria.”</em>
</p><p>The voice alone sends shivers down my spine. Technically, that’s not saying much, considering how badly Kyra scared me one night just by walking around with their hood up. I turn slowly, holding Hyacinth at the ready.</p><p>To my surprise, the figure standing in front of me is just… me?</p><p>Oh, gods. Is this one of those mirror creepypastas? Because if it is, I swear I’m going to die here. Next thing you know, some zombie is going to push its way out of the mirror and rip me to shreds for a hit-and-run incident. Except I never really got to learn how to drive, so that’s– <em>absolutely not the point why the fuck is that thing here.</em></p><p>And then it smiles as if to tell me that this is absolutely not just some kind of haunted mirror. The corners of its mouth extend too far up its cheeks, and its eyes widen a disproportionate amount. What the fuck.</p><p>“Wisteria,” it hisses again, taking a step closer.</p><p>“Ew,” I say, hoping that my shaking isn’t too noticeable. “Does my voice actually sound like that?”</p><p>It only laughs. “You know why I’m here.”</p><p>“...Mirror creepypasta?” Something, a (luckily) forgotten memory, tells me that the creature from the creepypasta had a name rhyming with rhino. This doesn’t seem to be it, which is good. </p><p><em>Stop getting distracted, Wis,</em> I scold myself. <em>Get ready to fight.</em></p><p>“Close,” it purrs, stepping even closer. I back up on instinct.</p><p>“Did I kill someone? I don’t think I killed someone.”</p><p>Dark brown and purple hair shifts to caramel, green eyes turn paler, and its dress turns white and red with blood. “Are you sure?”</p><p>Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw™.</p><p>“Listen up, you stupid rhino. Imitate my face all you want. It’s not my problem. But if you smile with <em>her</em> face, I’ll rip you apart.”</p><p>Naturally, the next thing it does is smile. “Like this?”</p><p>“Exactly like that.” I check the Wind Dust in Hyacinth before I pull out the ribbons attached to its hilt. “I’m gonna ask nicely once, okay? Fuck off.”</p><p>“Language, Wis,” my sister scolds. “It doesn’t hide anything.”</p><p>“I don’t exactly have anything to hide.”</p><p>Cynthia snorts. “<em>Please.</em> All you do is lie!”</p><p>“Well, damn. I came here to have a good time, but I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now,” I snort. “I used to lie a lot, fine. What’s your point?”</p><p>“You’re <em>still</em> lying. <em>Used</em> to? You and I both know your team isn’t nearly as bad as you’d have everyone believe.” She sees my expression and continues, “I’m not talking about Team KCWJ. I’m talking about HYCN.”</p><p>“It’s <em>keysmash</em>, not however you tried to pronounce it–”</p><p>“I bet you hated that, huh? You leave me to die, name your weapon after me as if that makes up for it, and when your dream comes true and you lead a team, it’s Team HCYN.”</p><p><em>Fuck off</em>, I try to repeat in her mind. But there’s nothing there for me to force sound into, except someone farther behind her. Jackdaw. I settle for speaking out loud in the end. “If you’re supposed to be mirroring my old demons, you’re not doing a very good job. I got over that and I’m sure you know it. I know it’s not my fault Cynthia’s…”</p><p>“Lying again. You’re <em>still</em> not over her death.”</p><p>“I said I was over blaming myself, not her death, <em>dipshit.</em>”</p><p>It barely even hears me. “You couldn’t save her, and you won’t save them.”</p><p>...Oh, shit. Jackdaw. She’s still here.</p><p>As if confirming my thoughts, I hear her scream. <em>“Kyte!”</em></p><p>So I put my swords together, give the thing my best Kyra smirk, and say, “Bullshit.”</p><p>Faster than it can respond, I leap up, twirling Hyacinth in one hand, and stab straight through its head.</p><p>The blade goes straight through all the way to the ground, where I feel it hit something. The darkness clears, revealing the tiny corpse of one of the spiders.</p><p>“Wisteria! Jackdaw!” Kyra arrives in the room, their eyes falling on the spiders. “What the f-”</p><p>They don’t make it farther than that before they freeze, stumbling forward. Caiden enters next, an arm over a long wound on their stomach, and tries to cover their eyes from whatever they’re seeing.</p><p>I turn to where I last saw Jackdaw to find her struggling against what looks like a web made of darkness. Not her kind of darkness, either– a darkness that’s distinctly Grimm. The large spider I saw earlier is crawling across the web towards her head.</p><p>“Not today,” I shout, spinning Hyacinth as fast as I can. The Wind Dust activates, blowing both spider and web away. Jackdaw slumps to the ground, but she’s still not back to reality.</p><p>I reach out with my Semblance. “We’re all here, Jackdaw. Don’t listen to the mirror creepypastas.” With a single thought, I amplify it in her mind.</p><p>It doesn’t work nearly as well as I hope. She shifts, confusion crossing her face, but nothing happens. The spiders on the wall crawl closer to her.</p><p>Oh, right. There’s only one thing that works for this.</p><p>“JACKIE.”</p><p>Jackdaw comes to in an instant, whips out her batons, and sends fire across the entire wall. Spider after spider screeches in horror and pain before they dissolve in small puffs of black mist. She fixes me with a glare, but it doesn’t have as much venom as usual. “Don’t call me– you know what? Whatever.”</p><p>We rush over to Caiden and Kyra together, who slowly blink and stand up without the spiders to confuse them. “What just happened?” Kyra asks weakly.</p><p>“The spiders were a weird kind of Grimm,” I reply. “A really freaky kind of Grimm.”</p><p>“Where’s Tyrian?” Jackdaw demands once Kyra nods.</p><p>“Escaped,” Caiden sighs. “Don’t look at us like that. We don’t know how he did it either.”</p><p>“I slammed him into a wall,” Kyra smirks. </p><p>I clap for a few seconds before shrugging. “At least we’re still alive?”</p><p>“Well, Caiden is a little hurt…”</p><p>“I’m fine,” Caiden snaps.</p><p>“Never mind. Yay, team!” Kyra says, holding up a hand. “We survived another day!”</p><p>“A major accomplishment considering it’s us,” Jackdaw drawls. She joins the high-five anyway.</p><p>Kyra puts their hands on their hips and says, “All right. There’s plenty more time in the night. We can probably take it easy and just come up with a–”</p><p>Caiden chooses that moment to collapse.</p><p>Kyra pauses. “...Fuck.”</p><p>-</p><p>“Never tell me you’re <em>fine</em> if you’re not actually <em>fine</em> again! I wouldn’t have made you run with me! And what would have happened if we got stuck in a trap?” Kyra shouts at Caiden in the other room, the sound echoing through the hallway where Jackdaw and I stand.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure that <em>was</em> a trap,” Caiden retorts. “Which is why I came with you– just in case Wisteria or Jackdaw was in danger!”</p><p>“<em>You</em> were in the most danger!”</p><p>“How was I supposed to know that?”</p><p>“Okay, fair–”</p><p>“Game,” Caiden, Jackdaw and I all interrupt.</p><p>Kyra spins, peeking out of the room’s door. I step out of the shadows Jackdaw’s concealing me in and wave. “Hi?”</p><p>Behind her, Caiden returns the wave from where they sit in their infirmary bed. “Hey.”</p><p>“Someone please tell Caiden that they can’t just run after me while they’re <em>bleeding out</em>,” Kyra snaps.</p><p>“I was <em>not</em> bleeding out. Seriously. I’m fine, okay?”</p><p>“That’s what you said last time,” Kyra growls. They take a deep breath. “<em>Fine.</em> You’re not in any danger anymore and I respect that, but please, for the love of Beat Saber, never do that again.”</p><p>“Noted,” Caiden replies. </p><p>“Don’t doubt me,” Kyra says, stepping forward. “Actually, have you heard of the flash drive dead drop challenge? Because if you– actually, if <em>any</em> of you– pull this shit again, I will not hesitate to glue you to a wall and <em>leave you there.”</em></p><p>“We’ll hold <em>you</em> to that too,” I say, stepping forward. “If Tyrian hurts <em>you</em> the next time we fight him, you’d better not try to fight him alone.”</p><p>“Please,” Kyra snorts. “I’ll never let him have the satisfaction of killing me.”</p><p>“Great. If we’re all agreed on that, why don’t we explain what happened while we were separated?” Jackdaw suggests. </p><p>Caiden grins. “You’re going to love the story.”</p><p>Kyra wastes no time in explaining everything to us after that. Like I said, they’re not the most reliable, so anything they say could be an exaggeration. Still, the wicked satisfaction on their face when they describe swinging Tyrian into a wall is hard to fake.</p><p>When it’s over, Jackdaw describes her account of the night, which is significantly less. She doesn’t go into detail about the spiders, so it only takes about a minute for her to explain everything.</p><p>“...Right,” Kyra says after a short silence. “That’s disgusting.”</p><p>“More than you realize,” Jackdaw sighs.</p><p>Kyra sits up, a new glint in their eyes. “Hey, you know what would make us feel better? Assuming Caiden’s up to it?”</p><p>“You want to spar, don’t you?” Caiden guesses.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>I mean, as long as I’m not fighting Kyra, it’ll be easy. Or maybe we could try out the new–</p><p>Kyra turns to me. “I’m fighting Wisteria.”</p><p>Well, shit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>imagine if I was updating my fair game fics. not gonna do that though because beating tyrian is always my top priority</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Some Mistakes Are Made</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When we get to the training room, Kyra drags me to the middle while Caiden gives me the signature hunger games gesture. I get about three seconds to prepare (which I spend glaring at Caiden) before my Scroll beeps. I look down, see a green bar flash across the screen, and look up again.</p><p>“Ready?” Kyra grins, unfolding Crystal Thorn.</p><p>Sighing, I reluctantly unsheathe Hyacinth, leaving it in sword form. Something tells me I’m going to need to dodge a lot during this match. “Would it matter if I said no?”</p><p>Instead of answering, they say, “Three. Two. One. Zero!”</p><p>I throw one sword across the room, holding onto my ribbon. The very end of its hilt stays on the end of the ribbon, allowing me to hit a button and yank myself across the room.</p><p>I’m just in time. Crystal Thorn spins so close to my hair that I almost lose the purple ends. Seriously, Kyra? This took <em>time</em> to grow out. Still, as long as I don’t get an untimely haircut, I’m happy. </p><p>The quick escape gets me a moment to breathe before Kyra starts shooting, forcing me to spin Hyacinth to deflect the bullets while I duck behind a nearby tower. I have about two seconds before they get here, and I have to time this perfectly.</p><p>Peeking around the corner, I see Kyra running across the training room. They point their scythe behind them, ready to launch themselves the remaining distance.</p><p>I throw Hyacinth, holding onto the ribbon end. Kyra fires as Hyacinth sinks into the opposite wall, creating a line across their path.</p><p>I can see Kyra’s eyes widening from here, but they’re not so easily fooled. They turn Crystal Thorn in an instant, using it to swing from my ribbon and safely onto the ground. Kyra smirks–</p><p>I spin my other sword, its crystal a bright red. Fire erupts from the blade, slamming Kyra into the opposite wall. There’s no time to celebrate the minor victory, because the next second, Kyra stands up, posing briefly before they lunge.</p><p>There’s no time to run again. All I can do is return my swords to their usual form just in time to raise them both and block Crystal Thorn. Gods, this weapon is heavy, and Kyra’s definitely stronger than me. I can’t keep the blade away from me forever.</p><p>Kyra tries to sweep my legs, and we realize their mistake at the same time. They’re stronger and Crystal Thorn is a massive pain, but my balance? Fucking legendary.</p><p>“Sorry,” I shrug, and sweep their legs instead.</p><p>Slight issue– Kyra’s the best on our team for a reason. They fall, all right, but they just spin Crystal Thorn above them. Dodging it is like trying to walk while spinning a hula hoop around your ankle.</p><p>Cynthia was always good at that.</p><p>And I… was the complete opposite.</p><p>Crystal Thorn spins me straight into the wall of the tower so hard that the blocks start falling. I grapple away just in time, and Kyra races after me.</p><p>I end up standing in the middle of the room, Kyra staring me down. Their hair and cape flutter in the wind– where the fuck is the wind coming from– as they grin.</p><p>Okay, I got over… whatever that was when I first met them. That doesn’t mean that I’m suddenly <em>not</em> a gay disaster.</p><p>“That was a good warm-up,” Kyra says. </p><p>“Of course it was a <em>warm-up</em>,” I grumble, my eyes falling on a tower behind them. I can swing around  there and maybe get to the top of one if I move quickly.</p><p>So I throw Hyacinth as fast as I can, take a running leap, and swing around the room to get to the tower.</p><p>Kyra moves faster than I expect, using Crystal Thorn to propel themselves up to where my ribbon is. As they fall, they yank hard on the ribbon, pulling it sideways.</p><p>Oh no. I’ve stolen Caiden’s earbuds too many times to <em>not</em> know what’s going to happen.</p><p>One minute, I’m swinging around the entire room, and the next, Hyacinth’s ribbon is pulling me around Crystal Thorn again and again. Kyra raises a fist, ready for me to swing right into it.</p><p>I don’t have a choice. I let go of Hyacinth, my momentum slamming me into the wall again. Crystal Thorn comes swinging down on me, barely blocked by my other sword. The pressure disappears in an instant as Kyra swings sideways.</p><p>The blade catches me in the side once, but I manage to dodge the second time and get my other sword from the floor. All right, then. Swinging around isn’t going to work. With a sigh, I hold Hyacinth hilt to hilt, turning it into a staff.</p><p>Kyra leaps after me, twirling Crystal Thorn with blinding speed. I spin Hyacinth as fast as I can, knocking the scythe away. For now.</p><p>I’m barely aware of how close Caiden and Jackdaw are as I back up one step, and then another. Shit. Shit. Shi–</p><p>Crystal Thorn hooks around my leg. My balance is good, but it’s not going to hold up against <em>Crystal Thorn</em>, for fuck’s sake. Kyra grins as they detach the handle, the blade folding into a chakram.</p><p>Great. Now I have possibly the heaviest blade in the world weighing me down.</p><p>There’s no moving from where I am right now, and although one of the Dust crystals is already used, I have one left. I spin Hyacinth one more time, activating the crystal to send Kyra flying back with a burst of fire.</p><p>It doesn’t take them long to recover, but that’s all I need to get the chakram off my ankle. Unfortunately, my luck runs out around then as the handle chakram smacks me in the face.</p><p>I land so close to Caiden that I can see my Aura approaching the red zone on their Scroll. Unsurprising, if I’m being honest. You can only get knocked around so many times before your Aura breaks..</p><p>Crystal Thorn comes crashing down on my stomach, and I barely manage to block it, spikes an inch away from running me through. This isn’t an ideal position to be in, not when–</p><p>Kyra shoots me in the face.</p><p>I slide backwards, coming to a rest just before I hit the wall. I watch my Aura flicker into nothing and groan. “I hate you.”</p><p>“You could never,” Kyra laughs, walking over to help me up.</p><p>“Fair.”</p><p>“Game,” Caiden says immediately.</p><p>Jackdaw sighs. “We have to stop doing that.”</p><p>Caiden gives her a Look™. “Do we, though?” You know, pretty much every look Caiden gives someone is a Look™. That’s probably why they have the visor. Remnant isn’t ready for that kind of power just yet.</p><p>ReMnAnT iSn’T rEaDy FoR tHaT kInD oF pOwEr, says the girl who’s held all five relics of immense power— Knowledge, Choice, Creation, Destruction, and Destruction 2.0, also known as Crystal Thorn. </p><p>To be fair, if Crystal Thorn had the power of the relics… oh gods.</p><p>Kyra folds Crystal Thorn up and starts nudging Caiden and Jackdaw towards the center of the training room. “All right, guys. Time to kill each other.”</p><p>“My wound is hurting,” Caiden protests, too much sarcasm in their voice for them to mean it. Kyra notices their tone and doesn’t stop pushing them.</p><p>As it turns out, Caiden may or may not be a seer.</p><p>After a few minutes of watching Caiden and Jackdaw exchange blows, I start to space out. But even when I’m distracted, it’s kind of hard to miss Caiden stumbling and hitting the floor.</p><p>Jackdaw swings at them again, her shadows retreating for now. It should be easy to deflect, which is why we’re all surprised when her baton connects. Caiden goes flying into the nearest wall, where ice spreads across their body and pins them there.</p><p>“F in the chat for Caiden,” Kyra mutters as we all walk over. “<em>Again.</em>”</p><p>“Sorry,” Jackdaw says sheepishly. “Are you okay?”</p><p>I miss Caiden’s next words, too busy trying to use Hyacinth as a blowtorch. Still, Kyra’s response gives me a pretty good idea of what Caiden said. “Why didn’t you tell me your wound was hurting?”</p><p>“Because it didn’t actually hurt before— nO WISTERIA BAD IDEA.”</p><p>I pause two seconds before I spin Hyacinth. “You might be right about that one.”</p><p>“Leave it to me,” Jackdaw sighs, her baton heating up. She pushes it through the ice with ease, water dripping down onto the floor to form a small puddle. Within seconds, Caiden manages to break free from the weakened ice.</p><p>Caiden looks down at their damp clothes, visibly crying inside. “I’m gonna go change.” They start walking back to the entrance of the training room.</p><p>Kyra catches them by the collar. “And then you’re gonna rest, right?”</p><p>“I’ve rested <em>plenty</em>,” says Caiden. “It’s boring.”</p><p>“Well, you’re not wrong,” Kyra shrugs. “But you still need it!”</p><p>“Says the person who hasn’t slept all night.”</p><p>“I’m not the one who got hurt.”</p><p>Jackdaw crosses her arms. “You two <em>both</em> need to rest.”</p><p>“To be fair, you didn’t sleep either,” I hiss to her.</p><p>I get a glare in return. “Neither did you.”</p><p>Kyra sighs. “So we all need sleep. Great.”</p><p>There’s a pretty good chance that a lightbulb appears over my head, but I wouldn’t know. “Horrible idea. Team slumber party, just in the daytime so we can stab a bitch at night.”</p><p>“You know, for the CEO of dumbassery, you do have good ideas sometimes,” Kyra says thoughtfully. </p><p>“<em>All</em> of my ideas are good,” I grumble, sticking my nose in the air.</p><p>“I beg to differ, but—” Jackdaw begins.</p><p>“Then beg.”</p><p>Caiden lets out a sigh so loud that Winter can probably hear them from her office. “Anyway, slumber party? Who’s getting the snacks?”</p><p>“Jackdaw can probably get them the fastest. Which means Wisteria can fix the beds, Caiden can waste their Scroll storage on truth or dare apps, and I’ll… work on a new plan for finding Tyrian. As soon as night falls, we’re going after him.” </p><p>I wince. “As soon as night falls? Siri, when does… never mind. Works for me.”</p><p>“Great,” Kyra smirks. “We’ll meet up at the dorms in five? Or maybe ten, so Caiden can change?”</p><p>Jackdaw responds by taking a step back into the shadows, disappearing without a word. </p><p>“...I’ll take that as a yes.”</p><p>-</p><p>“Truth or dare?” Jackdaw asks me, staring down at the Scroll she’s hiding in her lap.</p><p>“Uh, truth?”</p><p>Jackdaw clicks TRUTH, taking a second to read. “What was your last received message?”</p><p>Instead of saying anything, I hold up my Scroll to show her Discord. BLOCKED, says the message.</p><p>Jackdaw opens her mouth to ask me about the context, but she sees my new profile picture and reaches out to slap the Scroll from my hands. “I suddenly regret everything.”</p><p>Shaking their head, Caiden takes their Scroll from Jackdaw. Instead of asking her truth or dare, they ask, “Where’s Kyra? Shouldn’t they be here by now?”</p><p>“Maybe they found a huge flaw in their plan,” I shrug. “It happens to me all the time. But that’s just because I’m an idiot.”</p><p>Caiden sighs. “I’ll go find them.”</p><p>Noooooo. NOOOOOOO. Do you understand what fate you’ve left me to? </p><p>As I scream internally, Jackdaw turns to me. I can tell she wants to say something, but seeing as I’m pretty sure it’s some form of a death threat, I’m not eager to ask.</p><p>Finally, Jackdaw speaks up. “Who’s Cynthia?” Her tone isn’t exactly kind when she asks, although her expression tells me she probably didn’t mean to sound <em>that</em> horrible.</p><p>“Who’s Kyte?” I retort.</p><p>Her eyes narrow, but not fast enough to hide her surprise. Once Jackdaw composes herself, she says, “I’ll tell you if you’ll tell me.”</p><p>“...Fine.” I sit up straighter. Struggling to keep my voice as flat as possible, I explain, “Cynthia Heather, nineteen years old and a Huntress in training. She went missing in the Fall of Beacon.”</p><p>“Is she missing or actually dead?” The look on my face must answer her question, because Jackdaw nods and says, “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“So who’s Kyte?”</p><p>Sighing, Jackdaw says, “An old friend of mine. Well— friend might be an exaggeration. After I was banished, he gave me the scars on my back. Whether he enjoyed it or not is something I’ll have to find out the next time I see him. Assuming he doesn’t die before that.”</p><p>“Yikes. And I thought <em>my</em> old friends were bad.”</p><p>I can hear the mirror creepypasta’s voice in my head. <em>Lying again.</em></p><p>“It comes with the territory,” Jackdaw shrugs. “The Branwen Tribe isn’t exactly known for their kindness.”</p><p>“True, true.”</p><p>We sit in silence for a few minutes. Just as I’m about to start looking at memes on my Scroll, a shadowy hand offers me half of a card deck. “Wanna play Spit?”</p><p>I can only grin. Jackdaw has no idea who she’s dealing with here. “You’re on.”</p><p>-</p><p>“Kyra, what are you doing?”</p><p>Kyra hits control and Q before they spin around to find Caiden leaning in the doorway. “Watching cat videos?”</p><p>“Cat videos don’t usually have Google Docs in the middle, do they?” Caiden crosses the room and reaches for the computer. Kyra doesn’t stop them as they touch the screen, using their Semblance to open the window they just closed. They sigh when they find the three pages of plans that Kyra’s already written. “What’s this?”</p><p>“Plan two out of eight,” Kyra responds. “Just in case the first plan fails, and I’m pretty sure it will.”</p><p>Caiden scrolls to the bottom, shaking their head the entire time. “Did you lose track of time or something?”</p><p>“It’s been eight minutes, right? Didn’t I say ten?”</p><p>“It’s been twenty.”</p><p>“Well… shit,” Kyra sighs. They start to stand from their chair, but hesitate. “We’re still going after him once the sun sets, right?”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>Taking a minute to print out the two plans they have already, Kyra follows Caiden out the door. They frown as they walk, fingers tightening on their papers. It’ll be a few more hours until sunset, and a few hours is all Tyrian needs.</p><p>Caiden glances back, noticing Kyra’s expression. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Why did I even agree to the slumber party? Now that I think about it, we’re not actually resting, are we?”</p><p>“Not <em>really</em>, but if we really need to, we can sleep for a while. It’s still better than sparring, training, or—”</p><p>“Actually going after a serial killer who could be killing someone right now?”</p><p>“I know you’re worried, but constantly running around trying to catch him isn’t going to help. We’ll take this break and maybe a nap, and then we can go after him.”</p><p>Kyra growls in frustration, her grip tightening on the paper so much that it starts to crumple. “You don’t understand.”</p><p>Caiden stops walking, turning to face them completely. “You really think I don’t understand?”</p><p>“That’s what I said, yeah…”</p><p>“Remember what happened two years ago, in Atlas? Salem kidnapped you and we had no idea how to get you back. I… didn’t take it very well. Wisteria threatened to knock me out several times. Anyway, I eventually figured out that I couldn’t keep trying to find you nonstop. We’re only human, Kyra. There’s no shame in taking a break.”</p><p>Kyra looks away when Caiden mentions their capture, but looks back to retort, “I can’t take a break! Not when Tyrian’s still out there. You know what he’s done. How can you just sit around like this?”</p><p>Sighing, Caiden says, “I don’t want to fight over this, Kyra. Please, just rest for a few hours.”</p><p>“I… fine.”</p><p>Giving her a slight smile, Caiden doesn’t say anything else as they make their way back to the room. They walk in first to find Jackdaw throwing the card deck at me, sending the cards flying everywhere. (Thanks, Jackdaw.)</p><p>Kyra stays behind for a second, their hands balled into fists. “You can rest if you want, Caiden. I’ll do this alone if I have to.”</p><p>-</p><p>If Kyra disappears one more time, I swear I’ll… actually, I have no idea. But you get my point. They said they would get more snacks ten minutes ago, didn’t they? So why do we still have exactly zero gummy bears?</p><p>This time, I’m taking things into my own hands. Caiden told us about what they said to Kyra, but I’m not sure if they’re really going to rest. Especially not when they spent nearly the entire game of truth or dare looking through their plan.</p><p>After a quick explanation, I leave Caiden and Jackdaw behind and find my way to the kitchen. A glance inside tells me Kyra’s there, but the lights are off. Wack.</p><p>“Are you still getting the snacks?” I ask, stepping into the kitchen. I don’t bother to turn on the lights. </p><p>Kyra spins around in surprise. “What? Oh. Uh… yeah.”</p><p>I frown, squinting at her. Something seems… off. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>“And… you’re coming back to the dorm soon?”</p><p>Kyra nods. “I just need a minute.”</p><p>“...Okay?” I take the gummy bears as I leave, still frowning. What could be wrong with them? And why would they have the lights off? As far as I’m aware, humans don’t have night vision.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe I’m just overanalyzing things. Kyra’s probably just summoning a demon or something.</em>
</p><p>-</p><p>“Any eights?” Caiden asks me, their face half-hidden behind their cards.</p><p>“Go fish,” I say automatically before I realize the second card is an eight.</p><p>“Bullshit. I can see it in your hand.” Jackdaw yanks the eight away from me and hands it to Caiden.</p><p>I’m about to explain myself when it hits me. “Speaking of bullshit, where’s Kyra? They should be back by now.”</p><p>“Maybe they went back to figure out more strategies,” Jackdaw says. </p><p>“Maybe…” I trail off when I remember the lights in the kitchen. Kyra doesn’t summon demons. So why would they turn the lights off? They need them to see, after all.</p><p>Unless… they wouldn’t be able to see anyway.</p><p>Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. I’m on my feet in a flash. “They left to use their Semblance,” I blurt. “They’re going to go after Tyrian alone.”</p><p>Caiden and Jackdaw are right behind me as I run out the door. “I’ll check the kitchen,” Jackdaw shouts. “You two go to the computer lab.”</p><p>The computer lab is empty, as we soon find out. Caiden and I stop dead in the doorway. “This is bad,” Caiden groans, rubbing their eyes. </p><p>Our Scrolls ding to reveal a message from Jackdaw. <em>They’re not here.</em></p><p>I swipe over to the teammate tracking interface. To my surprise, it’s not working. When I tap on Kyra’s icon, a notification tells me that they’re not my teammate. I’m confused for a second before I remember that my Scroll is currently linked to my Atlesian license.</p><p>Caiden reads the notification upside down before tapping their own Scroll. I tilt my head to read their screen just in time to see their license change from a regular Huntsman’s license to a general’s.</p><p>“General Glas,” I say in my best Winter impression, mock-saluting. “Where’s Kyra?”</p><p>“Mantle,” Caiden says in disbelief. “How did they get to Mantle already?”</p><p>“The airship Winter gave us,” Jackdaw answers from the doorway. </p><p>I throw my hands in the air. “Great! Our only fast transportation is gone. Just great!”</p><p>“It’s not our only option,” Caiden smirks. “At least, not anymore. You know why?”</p><p>“...Why?” Jackdaw asks.</p><p>“I’m the goddamn general, that’s why,” Caiden says as if they’ve spent their whole life waiting for this moment. If they have, I can’t blame them. “Let’s go choose an airship.”</p><p>-</p><p>Kyra crouches on the roof, taking a deep breath as they stare at their target. Tyrian will hear them the second they leap, so they’ll have to be fast. Taking one more deep breath, Kyra jumps off the roof and straight in front of Tyrian, already swinging Crystal Thorn.</p><p>Surprise flashes across Tyrian’s face, but he’s dodging and unfolding his blades in an instant. Kyra tightens their grip on Crystal Thorn as they stare each other down. </p><p>“You’re still trying surprise attacks, I see. I <em>do</em> love sur-”</p><p>Kyra interrupts him by firing a shot over his shoulder. A warning shot, although he probably doesn’t deserve one. “Please just shut the fuck up,” they growl.</p><p>“If you insist.” Tyrian lunges, laughing maniacally as he slashes at Kyra. It only takes two spins of Crystal Thorn to deflect his attacks before Kyra hits him away with its sword form.</p><p>Surprisingly, no one comes to investigate as the sounds of metal clanging fill the air. Kyra spins, ducks, and swings, occasionally landing a hit on Tyrian. But as they dodge Tyrian’s Semblance and deflect his tail a moment after, they feel their leg give out.</p><p>They manage to roll away just in time to avoid getting hit, but they know that they’re already tiring. Strange. Usually, they can fight much longer than this without breaking a sweat.</p><p>Then again, they’re not usually up for thirty-six hours straight.</p><p>Tyrian notices their slip-up and laughs harder like the bastard he is. “I seem to remember you being faster than this the last time we fought,” he snorts before lunging again, blades flashing.</p><p>Kyra doesn’t bother to respond, although their grip tightens so much it almost hurts to hold their scythe. They knock him away and slash down as he staggers, but he slides under it effortlessly and wraps his tail around their leg.</p><p>From the ground, Kyra spins their scythe like they did in their sparring match earlier, forcing Tyrian to jump back to avoid getting his leg caught by the blade. It gives Kyra the time to stand up and pant for a second before blocking Tyrian’s next strike.</p><p>It takes a few more minutes of sloppy fighting before they realize that this is going absolutely nowhere. Normally, Kyra might stand a better chance of obliterating him, but when they’re this tired, their limbs aren’t cooperating as much as they could.</p><p>“Where’s your team? Did they finally realize you weren’t worth it?” Tyrian taunts, not even trying to attack as he dodges each swing of Crystal Thorn.</p><p>They know Tyrian’s trying to tire them out, but they can’t help but shout back, “Gods, shut <em>up!</em>” Kyra spins Crystal Thorn faster, hitting Tyrian so hard he almost crashes into the wall.</p><p>Tyrian pushes himself away from the wall and pauses a good ten feet from Kyra. “Can’t you do <em>anything</em> without that ridiculous scythe?” He groans in mock exasperation.</p><p>“Come at me, bitch,” is Kyra’s ever so eloquent response as they throw Crystal Thorn into the sidewalk. “I’ve beaten you before with just my fists and I’ll do it again.”</p><p>“We’ll see about that,” Tyrian cackles, and attacks again.</p><p>-</p><p>“I can’t believe I didn’t notice they were blind before,” I groan into my hands. “It was so fucking obvious too. Kyra was standing there without the lights on, and I just assumed they didn’t want them on like an <em>idiot.</em>”</p><p>To my surprise, Jackdaw pats me awkwardly on the back. “It’s not your fault, Wisteria.”</p><p>“It kind of is,” I reply. </p><p>Caiden turns around from the pilot’s seat. “If anything, it’s my fault. I could have talked to them more. I should’ve known that wasn’t enough to convince them.”</p><p>“I know I’m supposed to say it could also be my fault, but I can’t really think of anything,” Jackdaw shrugs. “Besides, it’s not your fault either, Caiden. We didn’t have any real way of guessing that this would happen. All we can do is get to them as quickly as possible, preferably before they reach Tyrian.”</p><p>“Yeah, slight issue there,” Caiden says. “They’ve been in the same spot for the past ten minutes. Unless their airship crashed, that means they’ve already reached him.”</p><p>“Well, shit,” Jackdaw mutters, leaning back in her seat. She sees our concerned faces and says, “I’m sure they’ll be fine. Kyra isn’t exactly weak.”</p><p>Kyra definitely isn’t weak. We all know that for sure. But the last time I stayed awake for thirty-six hours, I swear I astral projected myself onto the moon. While they’re more used to a bullshit sleep schedule, these last thirty-six hours weren’t easy in the slightest.</p><p>Gods, if Kyra gets hurt-</p><p>“They’ll be fine,” Jackdaw repeats. I’m not sure if she’s trying to convince us or herself.</p><p>-</p><p>Kyra has made plenty of mistakes in their life, most of them involving microwaves. As it turns out, confronting Tyrian alone was definitely one of them.</p><p>They can feel their arms shaking as they throw another punch that Tyrian easily sidesteps. He starts firing, and without Crystal Thorn, all Kyra can do is jump out of the way. Some of the bullets fly past them. Most don’t.</p><p>Staggering back a few inches with every bullet, Kyra glances at Crystal Thorn. Tyrian follows their gaze, shakes his head, and jabs his tail so that Kyra has no choice but to move away.</p><p>“I shouldn’t have come alone,” Kyra says under their breath, hoping Tyrian can’t hear them. “Caiden, Wisteria, Jackdaw, I hope you’ve noticed I’m gone by now.”</p><p>Tyrian doesn’t hear them, but he does see their lips moving. His smile growing, he doubles the speed of his attacks. Caught off guard, Kyra feels their Aura get ripped away around their legs and then their stomach. Right where Caiden was hit the night before.</p><p>Their saving grace is Tyrian’s inability to <em>not</em> pause and leer. Kyra grins, draws their fist back, and decks him.</p><p>The sound of their fist connecting with Tyrian’s nose is nothing if not satisfying. The satisfaction doesn’t last long, though. Within seconds, Tyrian recovers and leaps at them again.</p><p>Kyra’s so busy dodging the two blades attached to his wrists along with the gunfire that they don’t notice his tail until it’s too late. A sharp pain shoots through their ankle, and they look down to find Tyrian pulling his tail back.</p><p>“Oh, dear. That doesn’t look so good,” Tyrian giggles, not pausing in his attack. Kyra stumbles away, but they don’t expect the sheer amount of pain that flares up in their leg. </p><p>Collapsing on the sidewalk, Kyra finds their hand right next to Crystal Thorn. They yank it out of the ground without hesitation, using it as support as they stand up.</p><p>They’ve won plenty of battles before, even when the odds were stacked against them. This one is different, though. They’re exhausted and now poisoned, and it won’t take long for the poison to do its work.</p><p>They’re not winning this one. At least not alone.</p><p>Their team will come for them. They have to have noticed their absence by now. All Kyra has to do is stay on their feet for however long it takes for them to come. But how long is that? They took the airship, and no amount of determination is going to save them from the poison in their system.</p><p>Still, they have to try. So Kyra stops leaning on Crystal Thorn and prepares to attack, praying to whatever gods will listen that they’re not alone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>morning, motherfuckers</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Jackdaw's Turn With the Braincell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The airship door opens almost too slowly as we hover over Mantle. Somewhere nearby, I hear the sounds of combat. </p>
<p>“We can’t land here,” Jackdaw says after a quick look at our surroundings.</p>
<p>Caiden, already halfway out of their seat, shrugs. “There’s no time. Jackdaw, take the airship and land it wherever you can, then use your Semblance to catch up. Wisteria—” they turn to me— “Zipline time.”</p>
<p>If this was any other situation, I would celebrate for at least five minutes. We can’t afford to waste time here, unfortunately. Giving Caiden a short nod, I throw my sword so that it digs into a building below us and hold onto the airship with my free hand.</p>
<p>Caiden leaps out of the airship, using Virus to latch onto my sword’s ribbon. They slide down until they’re a few feet away from the building, switching Virus into its second form to climb up onto the roof.</p>
<p>I follow suit as soon as their feet touch the roof, my sword retracting its ribbon so it pulls me to the roof. With a flip that Kyra would be proud of, I land softly on my feet next to Caiden.</p>
<p>Caiden doesn’t say anything to me, starting to leap across the rooftops towards the clanging noises. I follow them as Jackdaw soars away in the airship, falling slightly behind as I run.</p>
<p>“You know, you’re pretty heavy,” I call to them as we jump a gap between buildings.</p>
<p>“It’s all muscle,” Caiden replies, and since I’m behind them, I can’t see their face to tell if they’re serious.</p>
<p>I’m about to ask when Caiden stops at the edge of the roof. I peer over the edge just in time to see Kyra crumple, Crystal Thorn slamming to the ground beside them.</p>
<p>“Fuck,” Caiden and I say at the same time. </p>
<p>I stare at Kyra, waiting for them to get up. With each passing moment, I start to realize more and more that they’re barely even moving. <i>Get up</i>, I think, willing Kyra to stand. They don’t move.</p>
<p>That’s when I see the blood pooling under them. It’s not much— not yet. Although most of the blood is coming from somewhere on their back, I can see it dripping from a wound on their foot. A <i>purple</i> wound.</p>
<p>Caiden and I recognize that color at the same time, shooting each other a concerned glance.</p>
<p>Tyrian giggles as he advances, savoring the moment. He takes his time as he stalks forward, his tail up and ready to end Kyra’s life.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the fuck not.</p>
<p>Something about the way Tyrian approaches Kyra makes my blood boil as my fingers curl into fists. How <i>dare</i> he do this to them?</p>
<p>All right, I’ll let you in on a little secret.</p>
<p>I’m sure as hell not over that thing from when I first met them.</p>
<p>“GET AWAY FROM THEM!” Before I know what I’m doing, I pull out Hyacinth and launch myself forward, throwing a sword in midair and holding onto the ribbon. The sword digs into the ground right in front of Tyrian as it pulls me to it, shocking him enough to make him stumble back.</p>
<p><i>Not far enough,</i> I think to myself as I kick Tyrian in the mouth. With a shocked cry, he staggers away, hands covering his face. I take the opportunity to activate my Semblance, focusing on the sound of Crystal Thorn hitting pavement.</p>
<p>Tyrian covers his ears, but it doesn’t help. A thought is the loudest silence of all, and it’s pretty hard to block your own thoughts. As I focus my Semblance on him, Caiden starts firing. He only manages to block half of them, far too distracted to deflect the rapid spray of bullets.</p>
<p>A huge shadowy hand emerges from the concrete, smacking Tyrian twenty feet backwards. Jackdaw appears in the middle of the street, smirking slightly at her work.</p>
<p>Once I can think rationally, I turn to Caiden. “We’ll deal with Tyrian. Get Kyra back to Atlas.”</p>
<p>Nodding, Caiden rushes forward, scooping Kyra up. They look so fragile and small lying unconscious in Caiden’s arms that I wince and turn away.</p>
<p>“Let’s go,” Jackdaw says to me, grabbing my arm before I can respond. She disappears into the shadows, and I go with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a strange experience, turning into shadow. Everything goes dark, and even though I feel nothing besides Jackdaw’s hand on my arm, I think I’m moving.</p>
<p>We emerge right in front of Tyrian, who groans and opens his eyes just in time for Jackdaw to bring Stray Envy down on his stomach. An explosion throws all of us back, and by the time I get to my feet, Tyrian is staggering across the rooftops.</p>
<p>It’s my turn to grab Jackdaw’s arm as I use Hyacinth to pull us up to the rooftop after him. In the distance, I can hear an airship taking off, but I don’t bother turning as I sprint after Tyrian, slowly gaining on him.</p>
<p>“GET BACK HERE, YOU WEE BITCH,” Jackdaw shouts, connecting the two parts of her weapon at the same time I do. A shadowy hand rips itself from the darkness and throws Tyrian back into the street.</p>
<p>We jump down at the same time, perfectly in sync as we twirl Stray Envy and Hyacinth and bring them swinging down on Tyrian. He dodges some of our attacks until we add our dust, fire and lightning pushing him far back.</p>
<p>Jackdaw sends a concerned glance to the houses around us, where the flames are barely missing the windows. “We can’t use our Dust here!”</p>
<p>“Not all of it,” I smirk, sending a spray of water at him with a quick crystal change. Jackdaw gets the hint and throws her electrified weapon at him. Tyrian cries out as he’s electrocuted, Stray Envy shooting back into Jackdaw’s hand.</p>
<p>“Wisteria!” Jackdaw shouts as she switches her Dust type. “Sneaky Beaky!”</p>
<p>Hey, I’m always up to smack Tyrian. I amplify my Semblance again, focusing on the sound of a flock of seagulls squawking. Tyrian hesitates for a split second, and that’s all Jackdaw needs to send him flying even farther down the road. We go running after him, but he manages to scramble to his feet and sprint down the block.</p>
<p>Hot on his heels, Jackdaw and I exchange Dust crystals while we run, occasionally ducking into the shadows or grabbing the other to grapple to a nearby rooftop.</p>
<p>I don’t even notice we’re at a familiar part of town until Tyrian ducks into a broken window and disappears into the darkness. With a snarl, I leap after him, reaching out to grab his tail before it makes it past the windowsill.</p>
<p>Jackdaw catches my cape as I leap and yanks me back, swinging me straight into a wall. I squawk in equal parts surprise and pain as I slam into the brick wall. Is this how Tyrian felt when Kyra swung him?</p>
<p>(Either way, thanks Jackdaw. Love ya.)</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” I scream at Jackdaw, trying to keep the cape from strangling me.</p>
<p>“Don’t you recognize that building?” She asks, jerking her free hand towards it. “That’s the place with the spiders!”</p>
<p>“So?” I cry, twisting around in an effort to get her to drop me. I forget that my cape can and will strangle me if it moves from my shoulders, which, of course, it does. Making a sound not unlike a duck on a few pounds of crack, I claw at my throat until I can finally breathe. “I survived them once, didn’t I?”</p>
<p>“Kyra and Caiden aren’t coming,” Jackdaw responds. “Come on. We have to get back to Atlas.”</p>
<p>“Let me go!”</p>
<p>“Not until you promise not to chase him in there.”</p>
<p>“I’m going after him! Didn’t you see? He hurt Kyra!”</p>
<p>“He’s going to hurt <i>you</i> if you go after him! What’s Caiden gonna say when I come back dragging your body?”</p>
<p>Finally managing to pull myself up, I reply, “Since when did I give a fuck what Caiden says?”</p>
<p>Jackdaw sighs. “Wisteria, I know you’re upset, but there’s no way we can take Tyrian down right now. Let’s get back to the airship so we can catch up with Kyra, okay?”</p>
<p>“MMMMMM IMMA HAVE TO PASS ON THAT,” I half-gag.</p>
<p>“You’re impossible,” Jackdaw sighs, and the next thing I know, a giant black hand picks me up and starts carrying me back to the airship after Jackdaw.</p>
<p>“I hate you.”</p>
<p>“Consider this payback for voting me off the ship when I was obviously not the impostor,” Jackdaw shrugs, slipping both of us into the shadows.</p>
<p>We emerge on the ship, where Jackdaw’s shadow hand drops me next to her and buckles my seatbelt. The airship takes off before I even have time to be salty about my seatbelt locking up.</p>
<p>It’s been years since I lived in Atlas Academy, so navigating the halls proves to be more challenging than expecting. We eventually find our way to the medbay, where Caiden sits alone on the solitary bench.</p>
<p>“Are they ok?” I blurt the second we make eye contact. The look Caiden gives me tells me everything. I sink down onto the bench next to them. “Fuck.”</p>
<p>My eyeballs are sweating. Stop sweating stop sweating <i>stop sweating—</i></p>
<p>-</p>
<p>I wake up around when Caiden starts strangling me. </p>
<p>It’s not their fault, really, because my cape has managed to get wrapped around my neck. Which, on its own, would not be an issue, except Caiden happens to be using it as a blanket. Which also wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t making an effort to yank the goddamn thing as hard as they can.</p>
<p>With a loud squawk not unlike the sound fratterkies make before they explode, I finally crash to the ground. The sound wakes both of my teammates up, and even Kyra stirs in the hospital bed behind us.</p>
<p>“That’s what, two of my teammates strangling me within twenty-four hours? Thanks, guys,” I say, tugging my cape out of Caiden’s hands. </p>
<p>“Kinky,” says Kyra.</p>
<p>“Fuck you,” I snap, before I realize that Kyra’s awake.</p>
<p>We’re all at their bedside in an instant. I open my mouth to ask if they’re okay, but they cut me off with, “Buy me dinner first.”</p>
<p>I send Caiden a look of pure <i>what the fuck.</i></p>
<p>Caiden shrugs. “Painkillers. They’re drugged out of their mind.”</p>
<p>“I am <i>not,</i>” Kyra protests with the slightest slur to their voice. “I am function one hundy percent.”</p>
<p>Jackdaw blinks, frowning. She shakes her head. “I see how it is. But are you sure this isn’t how they normally act?”</p>
<p>“Jackdaw? More like Jackass,” Kyra mutters, trying to roll over to smash their face into their pillow.</p>
<p>“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Jackdaw grumbles, crossing her arms. “Anyway, Kyra, how are you feeling?”</p>
<p>“I told you, I am function one hundy percent,” Kyra repeats. “But I have questions. Lots of questions. Starting with this one. Did you kill Tyrian?”</p>
<p>“No,” we all sigh in unison.</p>
<p>“Then why am I even listening? I’m going back to bed.”</p>
<p>“We <i>did</i> pull off some team attacks,” I wink before Kyra can close their eyes. In an instant, they’re sitting back up. (Which is a horrible idea, and ends with Caiden rushing forward to catch them before they fall off the bed.)</p>
<p>I tell them as much of the story as I can remember, from the minor details (Kyra has to address Caiden as General now) to the parts they’ll actually care about, like Jackdaw smacking Tyrian across the street. Occasionally, Kyra interjects whenever they see fit, which is a lot considering the amount of drugs in their system.</p>
<p>“You flipped! You flipped!”</p>
<p>“Caiden is <i>not</i> all muscle. I mean, have you ever heard them do push-ups?”</p>
<p>“You got Crystal Thorn, right? <i>Right?</i> Because if there’s so much as one scratch on my baby’s blade, I will consume your soul and boil your teeth.”</p>
<p>Despite all the (mildly terrifying) threats, it’s good to see Kyra awake and somewhat clear-headed. But as we talk, I notice that a frown is growing larger and larger on Jackdaw’s face until she bears a striking resemblance to Grumpy Cat.</p>
<p>“Jackdaw…” Caiden begins, evidently having noticed the same. “What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” she snaps, the venom in her tone oddly subdued, as if she’s trying to keep her temper at bay. “You <i>promised</i>. You promised you wouldn’t do something stupid and get hurt. And now look at you.”</p>
<p>“Hey, I only promised not to give him the satisfaction of killing me, and I’m still alive,” Kyra says with a too-forced smirk.</p>
<p>Jackdaw groans, dropping her head into her hands. “That’s not the point! Every time, every <i>goddamn</i> time we go after this asshole, at least one of us decides to be an idiot and get themselves hurt. First Caiden, now you, and who next? How long is it gonna take before one of us <i>dies?</i>”</p>
<p>“None of us are gonna die,” Kyra protests, looking at Caiden and then me. “Right, guys?”</p>
<p>Caiden and I share a glance. “Actually,” Caiden says cautiously, “Jackdaw has a point.”</p>
<p>“As strange as it feels to say, I agree with Jackdaw,” I add. “Kyra, if we had been a minute late, you would have... you know.”</p>
<p>“Then it’s a good thing you came when you did,” Kyra shrugs.</p>
<p>Jackdaw clenches her firsts so hard her hands start shaking. The shadows behind her seem to lengthen as she snaps, “That’s not the goddamn point and you know it! Just—” Jackdaw takes a long, deep breath, and the shadows return to their normal size. “Kyra, I know you’re an amazing Huntress. You can easily match Tyrian on your own at your full strength. But you promised not to do something like that, and you promised for a <i>reason.</i> Don’t you see what he’s doing? It’s like what Salem would do. He divides us and attacks while we’re alone and weak. Which, by the way, is stupid, because we keep falling for it.”</p>
<p>Kyra’s smirk fades off their face the more Jackdaw continues. They open their mouth to respond, but Jackdaw cuts them off.</p>
<p>“Kyra. You don’t have to be alone. None of us do. We’ve spent enough time trying to split up and take him down, so this time, let’s do what we should have done all along. We’re going to find him, and we’re going to fight him together. And we’re going to win.”</p>
<p>A new gleam in their eye, Kyra smirks, and this time, it’s real. “Once we’ve all recovered from that last fight, we’ll start planning. Sound good?”</p>
<p>We all nod.</p>
<p>“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go beat Tyrian.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>imagine telling kyra ur gonna write lgbt 4 for their birthday<br/>and now its december</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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